This week Syed Vaqar Ashraf, 71, of Lahore, Pakistan, was sentenced to 33 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Rosemary Marquez of the District of Arizona. Ashraf previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to export defense controlled items without a license.
Ashraf attempted to procure gyroscopes and illegally ship them to Pakistan so they could be used by the Pakistani military. In an effort to evade detection, Ashraf arranged for the gyroscopes to be purchased in the name of a shell company and caused the gyroscopes to be transshipped to Belgium.
According to Dnaindia.com, court documents note that Ashraf concealed to the representative of the US-based drone company who was in fact an official of Homeland Security department about the actual reason for his purchase of such equipment. When the officials from the US drone company told Ashraf that this equipment could not be shipped directly to Pakistan, Ashraf gave them a Brussels address.
Ashraf then traveled to Belgium to inspect the gyroscopes and arrange for their final transport to Pakistan.
On Aug. 26, 2014, Ashraf was arrested by the Belgium Federal Police at the request of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents, who had been conducting an undercover investigation of Ashraf’s activities.